Two Dead -- Cause Unknown
Numerous media reports
have trumpeted the tragedy that has befallen two men who
were killed after their "ultralight" aircraft went down near
the Hollister Municipal Airport (CA) Thursday. Authorities said
William Dieck, 60, of San Jose, and James Riley, 77, of Saratoga,
were killed instantly.
Mind you, there is no, technically, such thing as a two seat
ultralight... only two-seat vehicles that have been
waivered/allowed to operate under expanded regs for the purposes of
ultralight training and familiarization... but asking anyone in the
general media to do such homework is probably way too much to hope
for.
For the record, as defined by FAR Part 103, an ultralight is a
SINGLE occupant vehicle... or more specifically....
| FAR Part 103, Sec. 103.1
Applicability |
|
This part prescribes rules governing the operation of
ultralight vehicles in the United States. For the purposes of this
part, an ultralight vehicle is a vehicle that:
- (a) Is used or intended to be used for manned operation in
the air by a single occupant;
- (b) Is used or intended to be used for recreation or sport
purposes only;
- (c) Does not have any U.S. or foreign airworthiness
certificate; and
- (d) If unpowered, weighs less than 155 pounds; or
- (e) If powered:
-
- (1) Weighs less than 254 pounds empty weight, excluding
floats and safety devices which are intended for deployment in
a potentially catastrophic situation;
- (2) Has a fuel capacity not exceeding 5 U.S.
gallons;
- (3) Is not capable of more than 55 knots calibrated
airspeed at full power in level flight; and
- (4) Has a power-off stall speed which does not exceed 24
knots calibrated airspeed.
|
"Eyewitnesses said the plane was circling above the field and it
didn’t seem to be in distress, but lagging a little," said
San Benito County Sheriff Department Lt. Pat Turturici. "It veered
to the left and then went straight down."
The Hollister (CA) Free-Press quoted one man who heard about the
crash on his police scanner and rushed to the scene. Gene Marks
told the newspaper a man and wife driving near the airport at the
time of the accident first thought the "ultralight" (manufacturer
and type unknown) was a crop-duster. When the aircraft went down,
Marks says the man ran over to the wreckage, then realized there
were people on board the "ultralight."
"He said it swooped down into the ground, that (the victims)
didn’t have a chance,” Marks said. “They said
they were going to have nightmares for a while.”
The FAA says it won't investigate the accident [even though the
FAA report notes that the aircraft was involved in some mode of
government service--E-I-C], given that it involved an "ultralight."
But local authorities said they would conduct toxicology tests and
special autopsies to see if they could glean any further
information on the cause of the accident.
In a truly disturbing note, Marshal Robert Scattini, a member of
the local airport commission board for 19 years, was quoted in the
Free-Press as saying, "I don’t like (ultralights).
You’re just out in the open and there’s (nothing)
around you - like you’re sitting out there in a chair."
[E-I-C Note: Thank you very much for that bit of sport aviation
solidarity (not) and ignorant anti-ultralight myopia, Mr.
Scattini.]
Scattini went on to say, "We have maybe five or seven out here
at the airport. We call them widow-makers -- and a couple of widows
were made today."
It's bad enough when the aviation world is portrayed in a false
and negative light... it's worse still (in our opinion) when such
nonsense comes from someone in our own community.
** Report created 1/9/2004 Record 6 **
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: UNREG Make/Model: ULTR Description: UNREGISTERED
ultralight
Date: 01/08/2004 Time: 1825
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N
Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: HOLLISTER State: CA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
UNREGISTERED ultralight, A CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY PUBLIC
USE AIRCRAFT, CRASHED IN A OPEN FIELD UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES,
THE TWO PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS
DESTROYED, HOLLISTER, CA
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 2
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: UNK
OTHER DATA
Activity: Training Phase: Unknown Operation: Other
Departed: UNK Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination: UNK Flt Plan: UNK Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: UNK Last Clearance: UNK
FAA FSDO: SAN JOSE, CA (WP15) Entry date: 01/09/2004
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